BC representation is plentiful in the Canadian national men’s and women’s sevens teams headed to Dubai and Cape Town this December.
Canada’s women’s team named mainstays Caroline Crossley and Kayla Moleschi in their roster for the Dubai and Cape town events.
Canada are coming off of a sixth-place finish at the Glendale 7s, where a tight loss to the USA in the quarterfinals put them out of medal contention. Canada will get another shot at the now first place Eagles in Dubai, facing off against them in pool A along with Russia and Brazil.
“It’s a really tough pool,” said head coach John Tait. “Obviously, the U.S. won the last one in a really tight match and same goes for our game against Australia. It wasn’t where we wanted to finish, but we take a lot of confidence from that experience. The two teams that went to the final, we had those teams beat, really. It was just down to our mental errors in decision making that cost us those games.”
Canada sent a team to the Oceania 7s in between the Glendale and Dubai events.
“The Oceania 7s was a great opportunity to test our wider squad against some quality competition in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan,” said Tait. “It was a really good exercise for the team, and we learned a lot about each other and about our depth. Hopefully that will pay off as the year goes on.”
Canada’s men’s team named nine BC players to its roster travelling to Dubai and Cape town next month.
BC’s Nathan Hirayama and Harry Jones will co-captain the squad, and Victoria native Connor Braid returning from an injury that kept him out of the Olympic qualifier.
Coming in as the 13th man is David Richards, a member of the Pacific Pride Performance Academy. Richards played in his first international senior national tournament at the Hong Kong 7s last year and helped lead Canada’s Under-20 team through the World Rugby Junior Trophy Qualifiers last June.
Canada will compete in pool C against Samoa, New Zealand, and Wales.
“It’s tough opposition,” added Paul. “You know, nothing tougher than Samoa, New Zealand, and Wales. So we couldn’t have asked for a better draw to really test ourselves against the best,” added Paul. “We’re on a good pathway now but it needs to be tested in that game environment so we can keep building, keep looking for ways to grow through this season.”
Men’s Roster
1. Phil Berna (Vancouver, B.C.) – UBC Thunderbirds
2. Connor Braid (Victoria, B.C.) – James Bay AA
3. Cooper Coats (Halifax, N.S.) – Halifax Tars
4. Mike Fuailefau (Victoria, B.C.) – Castaway Wanderers
5. Nathan Hirayama (Richmond, B.C.) – Unattached – Co-Captain
6. Harry Jones (West Vancouver, B.C.) – Capilano RFC – Co-Captain
7. Isaac Kaay (Kamloops, B,C.) – UVIC Vikes
8. Patrick Kay (Duncan, B.C.) – Castaway Wanderers
9. Josiah Morra (Toronto, Ont.) – Toronto Saracens
10. Matt Mullins (Belleville, ON)– James Bay AA
11. Jake Thiel (Abbotsford, B.C.) – Abbotsford RFC
12. Adam Zaruba (North Vancouver, B.C.) – Capilano RFC
13. David Richard (Milton, ON) – Mississauga Blues
Women’s Roster
1. Elissa Alarie, Westshore RFC (Trois Rivieres, QC)
2. Brittany Benn, Guelph Redcoats (Napanee, ON)
3. Pamphinette Buisa, Ottawa Irish (Gatineau, QC)
4. Emma Chown, Aurora Barbarians (Barrie, ON)
5. Caroline Crossley, Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)
6. Bianca Farella, Town of Mount Royal RCF (Montreal, QC)
7. Julia Greenshields, Sarnia Saints (Sarnia, ON)
8. Sara Kaljuvee, Toronto Scottish (Ajax, ON)
9. Ghislaine Landry, Toronto Scottish (Toronto, ON) – Captain
10. Kaili Lukan, Unattached (Barrie, ON)
11. Kayla Moleschi, Williams Lake Rustlers (Williams Lake, BC)
12. Karen Paquin, Castaway Wanderers / CRQ (Quebec City, QC)
13. Charity Williams, Markham Irish (Toronto, ON)
